The batteries in Volkswagen electric cars will be able to provide power to homes by the end of 2022, VW boss Herbert Diess said today.
The capability will be able to be activated for models with 77kWh batteries via an over-the-air software update, Diess said in an “ask me anything” session on social media forum Reddit.
“Bidirectional charging will be available this year for all ID. Models with 77 kWh battery, also via OTA update. In the beginning we will only offer Vehicle-to-home. This means you can run your dishwasher with electricity from abroad,” he said.
While we’re not exactly sure what he meant by “from abroad”, the statement about vehicle-to-home (V2H) or bidirectional charging was one of a few illuminating responses from the VW boss.
Volkswagen first touted adding vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in its cars in 2021, and the latest statements hint that bidirectional capabilities in cars with CCS2 plugs could come soon.
Diess’s goal to roll out vehicle-to-home charging by the end of 2022 is dependent on the finalisation of a CCS2 plug standard to allow bidirectional charging; currently, it is only possible via the CHAdeMO plug standard.
V2H also requires installation of a bidirectional charger. Volkswagen first introduced a 22kW bidirectional DC charging station in 2020, which it deployed across 20 sites for testing.
It is also dependent on regulatory approval by authorities and utility operators; V2H and V2G (vehicle-to-grid)-capable Nissan Leafs have been deployed in Japan where concerns about energy security amid typhoons, cyclones and nuclear disasters have driven its approval, but its use is still sparse on a global scale.
The capability differs from “vehicle-to-load” introduced by Hyundai and Kia in the Ioniq 5 and EV6, enabling owners to plug directly to the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery to power devices like kettles and lights when camping, or recharge batteries in electric bikes and power tools for example.
There was no immediate response to whether V2H capabilities for other EVs made by Volkswagen Group, such as the Audi e-tron, would be made available at the same time. In 2020, Audi also announced it would pursue bidirectional charging.
Topics discussed also included autonomous driving to the ability to “plug and charge” – a capability implemented on Australia’s Tritium chargers, where payment for charging is done automatically when the car is plugged in.
Diess also offered an update on a 20,000 euro car, first promised for 2020 in 2018. “Price is a challenge. We are working on electric cars around 20k euros for entry segments,” he said.
Diess said that another software upgrade would enable “plug and charge” in the ID.4 my mid-2022, as well as faster charging and “autohold” which maintains the pressure applied in braking to make stopping and starting in traffic a more pleasant experience.
“We will have a major OTA update for the ID.4 coming this summer, which will add features like Plug&Charge and AutoHold, as well as a higher capacity onboard charge capability,” he wrote.
Diess also offered his view on using LiDAR for autonomous driving, something Tesla’s Elon Musk has frequently said is too energy-intensive, going so far as call the use of light-emitting radar in self-driving technologies a “fool’s errand” and that “anyone relying on lidar is doomed.”
Volkswagen’s deal with Argo AI has already spawned an all-electric Kombi that the company hopes will be put into service as robo-taxi.
Diess argues that although LiDAR is still pricey to implement, it offers “redundant perception” to full-surrounds cameras.
“Lidar technology is still expensive, but todays the only way to offer redundant perception to the 360 camera systems which are a must,” he wrote. “Safety is really crucial in autonomous driving. For level 3 driving you need redundant perception.”
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.